Karyn Olivier considers history, displacement, migration, and visibility/invisibility through conceptual sculptures made of industrial materials and found objects. In these sculptures, conventional figuration is absent, but the vestiges of bodies—including clothing, shoes, and architectural spaces or objects where human interaction is implied—are central. With this transposal of the human subject, Olivier collapses multiple histories, memories, and times, creating singular material snapshots of larger processes of movement and change.
Olivier recently had a solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, which traveled to the University of Buffalo Art Gallery, and has had others at galleries in Italy, Mexico, and the U.S. She has also participated in group exhibitions at the Gwangju and Busan Biennials, the World Festival of Black Arts and Culture, Whitney Museum of Art, Studio Museum in Harlem, MoMA PS1, Mattress Factory, and more.
